Sony patents biometric controllers to monitor gamer’s state

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All the major consoles have motion controllers now, but all three companies (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) took different approaches to solve the same problem. The end results were the Wii Remote, the PS Move, and Kinect.

It looks like the same might end up being true of biometric input for games. So far Nintendo is the only company to have gone public by showing off the Vitality Sensor ahead of a launch that now seems never destined to happen. Sony also has a biometric sensor in the works for its hardware, but it is taking the approach of enhancing gameplay in multiple ways rather than just offering to check your pulse.

A patent has been discovered for a new Sony biometric control system that would monitor three aspects of a player’s state. These include:

Skin moisture

Heart rate

Muscle movement

By combining those three measurements, and changes within each, Sony aims to use the results to affect gameplay somehow. Examples given are all based on a player’s level of stress and could see you health bar deplete quicker if you are more stressed, your weapons could be more difficult to aim, you get an adrenaline boost for your character, or the overall look of a game and the music being played changes to suit.

In order to capture this biometric data Sony outlines plans to add the appropriate sensors to a DualShock controller, the PlayStation Move motion stick, and even a handheld device like the PS Vita.

As with all patents, just because they have been filed doesn’t mean they will be used in real products. Also, with PS Vita out soon and no mention of biometric sensors being made, it looks like the first hardware to use biometric data has to be the PlayStation 4. That’s assuming Sony ever intend to implement them.